Mahalel, David Emanuel

Son of-Sarah-Rivka and Israel-Natan was born on May 22, 1916, in Alexandria, Egypt, where the family was temporarily staying. In 1919 the whole family returned to Palestine. At first they lived in Zichron Yaakov, where the father of the family worked, and there David also began his studies. Since David was an outstanding and gifted student, his teachers recommended that he continue his studies in Haifa, where at the time there were high-level schools. Indeed, in 1928 the mother of the family and children moved to Haifa and the father remained in Zichron Yaakov. David continued to study building engineering at the Technion in Haifa. During his studies, David joined the Haganah and was one of the active members of the organization. David married Batya Cohen and began working at the Haifa Refinery, a place where the Haganah ordered his men to work. David worked as a construction engineer in a new development area in the eastern part of the refineries. On the 17th of Tevet 5708 (December 30, 1947), the Arab workers at the refineries massacred the Jewish workers there, and 39 of them were murdered, among them David. The next day he was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Haifa.